GUEST: Mabel Revival

Liisa Pentti +Co

A soirée dansante with a woman and her inner divas

Mabel Revival is a joyous and shameless mixture of dance, performance, and DIY cabaret. Choreographer and dancer Liisa Pentti and actor-musician Robert Kock lead the spectator to the mysterious and enchanted world of divas, those objects of admiration and desire.

Mabel is a woman with no shame or remorse, a modern-day shaman who dances, growls and sings, captivates as well as confuses. The work is a tribute to femininity and female performers, whose charisma and sensuality bring the stage to life, mediating bodily affect and knowledge.

“To live fully, we must also talk about death and visit the land of dreams, if only at night…”

Liisa Pentti’s classic solo work Mabel or The Queen of Bones premiered at Zodiak in 2008. In 2025 the reinvigorated diva has toured extensively in Europe and in November Mabel Revival returns to Helsinki, Viirus.

In addition to the performances, the audience will have the opportunity to participate in a diva workshop. 

“Liisa Pentti surprises and stupefies with her new dance work Mabel or The Queen of Bones. Known as theoretical, analytical and intellectually challenging, the choreographer now tackles something as superficial as diva and diva-ness. True to herself, however, she finds another world below the surface.”

Jussi Tossavainen, Helsingin Sanomat 23.10.2008

“Shamelessly fun diva-ing… In Pentti’s arsenal one discovers a shy singer peeking from under a blanket, as well as a raging inner animal. All of this is executed with a simultaneous sense of shameless awareness and self-irony. This diva knows her strength and is unafraid to show it..”

Annikki Alku 23.10.2008, Uutispäivä Demari

Liisa Pentti is a trailblazer of Finnish dance. She graduated as a dance artist at the Amsterdam Academy of Theatre and Dance’s Modern Dance department (SNDO) in 1986, and was one of the postmodern dance artists shaking the Finnish dance and cultural scenes in the 80’s and 90’s.  Liisa Pentti continuously works as a teacher, dancer and choreographer both in Finland and internationally. 

Liisa Pentti +Co is a Helsinki-based dance group founded in 2000.The group’s artistic profile is situated in the field between dance, performance art and contemporary theatre. Experimentation and the search for new forms of expression are central to the company’s works.

Credits
Diva Liisa Pentti
Actor-musician Robert Kock
Diva coach Frans Poelstra, Kimmo Alakunnas
Make-up coach Tuija Luukkainen
Costumes Terttu Torkkola
Production by Liisa Pentti +Co

Photo Esko Koivisto

Language English

Length 40 minutes

Age recommendation +14

Tickets: 20/ 15 € + Pay whay you want (5 € +)

Diva workshop:

What new forms of physicality and presence can the diva take on today, in an era where social media stars and glittering “bling-bling” icons have become an inseparable part of the everyday visual landscape? Where are our own personal, divine beings hiding—those yet-unseen presences that are both magnetic and unruly?

In this workshop, we will create a space to explore our personal divas and their many expressions through various physical exercises. We’ll also discover our diva animals and their different manifestations. This workshop is open to anyone interested in exploring the theme of their (inner) diva and requires no prior experience with divahood.

Duration 2 hours